Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense

The Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense (the B.P.R.D. or BPRD) is an organization charged with protecting America and the world from the occult, paranormal and supernatural. It maintains the services of several supernatural persons, including Hellboy. The BPRD originally appeared in the Hellboy comics but has also been featured in many stories under the BPRD title.

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The B.P.R.D. was founded in late 1944 by Professor Trevor Bruttenholm to combat various occult threats uncovered in operations against Nazi Germany. It initially had strong links to the United States Army Air Forces and was based at a military airbase in New Mexico. By 1948, the Bureau relocated to a custom built facility in Fairfield, Connecticut. It maintains strong links to various branches of the United States Armed Forces to this day. It is a private organization that receives funding from several major governments (mostly the United States and United Kingdom, although other countries like Canada, Japan, France, and Italy have been mentioned). Professor Bruttenholm served as director until the late 1950's when he stepped down to return to field work. The current Director is Dr. Thomas Manning. Since the 1970's, additional paranormal agents have joined the ranks, such as Liz Sherman, Abraham Sapien, Johann Krauss, and Ben Daimio. This has become necessary to maintain the high profile of the Bureau, especially in light of the departure of their flagship agent, Hellboy, in 2001.

The B.P.R.D. is a well known and respected organization that has excellent relations with most international governments and United States government agencies, with the exceptions of China and the CIA. The Bureau was initially the United States' only defense against an onslaught of frog creatures. Though the 'frogs' originally began operating on the East Coast, they spread west on both sides of the US-Canadian border. To cut costs, the Bureau moved from its traditional headquarters in Connecticut to an abandoned research facility in Colorado. This facility was last used to house Nazi scientists who defected to America after World War II. As such, the facility contains vast amounts of secret files that the B.P.R.D. has yet to explore.

The frog monster invasion reached its peak during the events of The Black Flame. A Nazi madman called the Black Flame insinuated himself as the leader of the frogs, and together they raised Katha-Hem (one of the Ogdru Hem, the 369 spawn of the Ogdru Jahad) from the ground. The mountainous beast ran rampant across the American heartland until Liz Sherman used an ancient artifact to amplify her pyrokinetic powers a thousandfold. After she burned Katha-Hem alive, the frog monsters dragged the Black Flame into a vast pit and the invasion came to an end.

The B.P.R.D. has recently become an international organization with support from the United Nations. This is due to the major Ogdru Hem activity occuring throughout the world. The Bureau has also been unable to rely on their enhanced talent agents as of late. Former Team Captain Ben Daimio fled the Bureau after causing the death of several agents. Agent Liz Sherman is currently missing following her destruction of the frog army and the Black Flame at Agartha. Agent Abe Sapien is currently on the run after awakening from a 4 month coma brought on by severe injuries. His time spent in a coma has left him transformed and his fellow agents even more suspicious of him and his role in the end of the world. Due to this lack of enhanced talent agents, the more traditional agents have had to step up as the world falls apart.